Those 77, however, represent only about a 10th of the people who've come through the program since October, raising the question: If an estimated 700-plus homeless people are entering the system, but there are only 260 shelter beds available in the county on an average night, where, exactly, is this system sending the hundreds that comprise the remainder?

According to Wendy Schwartz, of Boulder Human Services, the obvious gap in needs versus beds doesn't account for the common factor of impermanence.

About 80 percent of people who accessed homeless services prior to the system change — the last one was heavy on emergency, day-by-day programming; the current one prioritizes exits from homelessness and defunds emergency services, such as walk-up sheltering — did so for an average of eight days. In fact, a quarter of overnight shelter clients never came back after their first night.

That trend has held under the new system, Schwartz said.

"Some people have utilized either the shelter or 'Path to Home' navigation services or the Longmont navigation services for a short time, then moved on," she said. "We don't necessarily know when people stop showing up."

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But for those who are among that majority of people entering the system for a short period of time, the new countywide approach has resulted in another common outcome: "reunification," as officials call it.

Of the 77 people who've exited the system since October — 64 out of Boulder, 13 out of Longmont — 26 of them were "reunified" with family members.

Every one of those 26 had been in the area for less than a month, and all but three of them had family ties somewhere outside of Boulder County.

Jim, who wouldn't give his last name, shakes hands with eligibility technician Jaymie Thorne about food assistance on Tuesday after checking in at the Boulder County homelessness coordinated entry location inside the Boulder County Housing and Human Services building in Boulder. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

As for the remaining two-thirds of exits, 12 have moved back into permanent housing, six have moved into transition housing with Bridge House, nine have moved into long-term sheltering for higher-needs individuals at the north Boulder shelter, 18 have been relocated to what Boulder officials called "a better housing/support option in another community," and six are into sober supportive housing.

Those early results, in which 55 percent of exiting clients actually left the Boulder area, are evidence of "early success," the city said in a news release last week.

The fact that coordinated entry has seen so many clients to date — 544 in Boulder alone, as of the last count released by the city — points, to some, to the need for policy changes supplemental to what's going on now with the new homeless system. It remains illegal to sleep outside, thanks to an urban camping ban.

"With 544 people registered through the coordinated entry program but just 210 beds (not including Longmont's 50) to accommodate them, Boulder really needs a legal, safe campground for our homeless neighbors," homeless advocate Darren O'Connor told the Boulder City Council recently.

"Making sleep illegal only extends the cycle of homelessness by making it harder to get housing and employment."

Christopher Wright, right, and Michele, who asked that her last name not be used, fill their plates with food during a community table dinners meal as part of a program for the homeless on Tuesday at the Mountain View Methodist Church in Boulder. Both are currently homeless. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

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